doctrinal statement

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe all Scripture, Old and New Testament, is inspired by God. This refers to the original autographs as written by the prophets and apostles. Thus, the Bible is inerrant, and without mistakes in the original words. We believe all Scripture points to the Lord Jesus Christ and reveals the mind of God to man, and the only way of Salvation is through Christ. The Scriptures also are the only guide for our practical, moral, and spiritual instruction.

THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE

"Hermeneutics" is the science of interpretation. There are evidences in both the Old and New Testaments as to the method that Biblical truth is to be interpreted. Conservative, normal, and literal hermeneutics takes a very tried and true approach to understanding the Bible that should include observation, interpretation, and application. It would argue for but one sense or meaning for each passage of Scripture.

Though taking the Word of God literally, and at face value, in classical hermeneutics there is room for poetry, figures of speech, illustrations, types, and symbols. But these literary devices do not take away from the foundational or normal interpretative understanding of Biblical truth. Normal interpretation also argues for progressive revelation, i.e., that the Holy Spirit over a period of time revealed certain truths in a progressive fashion. For example, the revelation of Jesus Christ starts in Genesis, but is not fully complete until the book of Revelation. Literal interpretation is in opposition to allegorical interpretation. Though the Apostle Paul in Galatians "creates" an allegory in order to make an isolated point or illustration (4:21-26), allegory as a system is but an unacceptable philosophical approach to understanding the Word of God. It is clearly contrary to proper Biblical interpretation.

[Luke 1:1-4; 24:35; 44-46, 48; Acts 10:8; 17:11-12; 26:6-7; 26-27]

THE GODHEAD

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that these three are one God, having the precise same nature, attributes, and perfections and worthy of precisely the same honor, confidence, and obedience.

GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE

We believe that according to the "eternal purpose" of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always "by grace through faith," and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ. We believe that God has always been gracious, regardless of the dispensation, but that man has not at all times been under an administration or stewardship of grace as is true in the present dispensation of the Church.

[1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4]

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

Though God is Absolute Sovereign over all creation and history, He is not the author of sin. Yet in some mysterious way, His decrees include all that takes place in the universe. God has a "determined plan for the whole world" and no one can alter His purposes (Isa. 14:26-27). What He has planned that He will do (Isa. 46:11). And, He "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" (Eph. 1:11); "Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand" (Isa. 14:24)

Sovereignty also extends to the providence of God whereby He sustains all creatures, giving them life and removing life as He pleases (Deut. 32:39). In sovereignty, all things were created for the glory of God and all things exist for Him (Rev. 4:11). The sovereignty of God also extends to the doctrine of divine election whereby those chosen by the council of the Lord's own will, shall come to Him in faith. And yet, even though difficult to reconcile in human understanding, the sovereignty of God does not remove the responsibility of man.

ANGELS, FALLEN AND UNFALLEN

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, "Lucifer, son of the morning" - the highest in rank - sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness until the judgment of the great day."

[Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; 1 Tim. 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6]

MAN, CREATED AND FALLEN

We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, and that he fell through sin and as a consequence of his sin, lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became subject to the power of the devil. Paul adds that the lost are mentally blinded by Satan, the god of this world, and that the truth of the gospel is veiled from those who are destroying themselves (II Cor. 4:3-4).

The Word of God makes it clear, there is no one who seeks after God (Rom. 3:11). So God has given mankind over to the lusts of the heart and to a depraved mind (Rom. 1:24, 28). The Apostle further argues that men who live to indulge the flesh and the mind with lusts, are by nature the children of wrath, and in life, walk after the course designed by Satan, the "spirit" presently working in the sons of disbelief (Eph. 2:2-3). Theologically, this "deadness" and darkness of mind and heart along with all the sins that come forth, has been rightly called Total Depravity (Rom 1:28).Following the sin of Adam, man could only produce descendants who would be sinners. Therefore all mankind is under the death sentence and penalty of sin (Rom. 5:12-18) and thus are all condemned. This doctrine is important because it stands in opposition to the philosophy of humanism that is the moral and spiritual scourge of modern man. Only through the reconciliation of Christ, by His death, are human beings who are enemies of God being saved (Rom. 5:10). The result is that sinners are justified by Christ's blood, and are rescued from the wrath of God.

[Gen. 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Ps. 14:1-3; 51:5; Jer. 17:9; Eph. 2:1-6]

THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST

We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as preannounced in the prophecies of the Scriptures, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end He was born of the virgin, and received a human body and a sinless human nature.

We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah- King, and, being rejected of that nation, He gave His life as a ransom for all according to the eternal counsels of God.

We believe that, according to the Scriptures, He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrection body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers.

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

We believe that, owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainment in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are sons of God.

[John 1:12; 3:16; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:22; Gal. 3:22]

THE EXTENT OF SALVATION

Though the saved one may have occasion to grow in the realization of his blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God, he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ, and is therefore, in no way required by God to seek a so-called "second blessing," "second work of grace," or a "second baptism."

[1 Cor. 3:21-23; Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; 1 John 4:17; 5:11-12]

ETERNAL SECURITY

We believe God keeps eternally all those He has elected and called to salvation and that none are lost. God will, however, chasten and correct His own in infinite love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all human merit, He, who cannot fail, will in the end present every one faultless in Christ, and on His merits, before the presence of His glory and conformed to the image of His Son.

We believe that believers can have eternal assurance that they are the children of God and thus, are eternally kept. This assurance gives confidence and helps the believer grow in inner peace and maturity.

HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise, dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and that He, as the indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service.

We know that great misunderstanding today exists concerning some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For example, tongues (glossa) was really a known language gift whereby someone who spoke a different language could hear the gospel in his or her own tongue. This dramatic gift is mentioned in only a few places in the New Testament. Contrary to popular opinion (which is not how doctrinal truth is established), the gift of languages in I Corinthians is not different than what is practiced in Acts. All grammatical and historical evidence shows that the gift of languages was the same throughout the New Testament.

We know that there are no Apostles today equal to Paul and the Twelve. All believers are apostles in the sense that they are messengers. But Paul and the other Apostles held and authority, an inspiration, and a revelatory power not given today. Anyone claiming such is an imposter. In the same sense, there are no Bible-like prophets today. The New Testament gift of prophecy meant one had the ability to speak God's truth before the final revelation of the New Testament was completed. Even then, the words of such a prophet were not absolute. They must be checked and balanced by other prophets present when the teaching was given.

[John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; 2. Thess. 2:7]

THE GREAT COMMISSION

We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved that they are sent forth by Him into the world to make known Christ to the whole world.

[Mt. 28:18-19; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; 1 Pet 1:17; 2:11]

THE BLESSED HOPE

We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both His own who are alive and remain unto His coming, and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and that this event is the blessed hope set before us in the Scripture, and for this we should be constantly looking.

[John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14]

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

We believe that the period of great tribulation in the earth will be climaxed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth as He went. The millennial age will follow, with Satan bound. Israel will be restored to her own land and the Abrahamic Covenant will be fulfilled by the consummation of its three divisions - Land (Palestinian Covenant), Seed (Davidic Covenant), and Blessing (New Covenant finally brought to complete fruition). The whole world that survives will be brought to a complete knowledge of the Messiah.

THE ETERNAL STATE

We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.